Poetry Treasures, Anthology from Roberta Eaton Cheadle & Kaye Lynne Booth

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Thursday, May 27, 2021

I try to contain my enthusiasm and limit myself to two posts a week.  However, I was asked to post this today.  But it’s not about me!  Today I’m doing something a little different.

Anthologies are a great way to get to know the work of different authors.  Recently, I offered to participate in the launch of a new anthology that Roberta Eaton Cheadle spearheaded.  She asked me to feature someone I don’t know from Adam.  What better way to get acquainted?  So here goes!  But first, since everybody likes free stuff…

A Giveaway!

Follow the tour and leave a comment at each stop for a chance to win one of three digital copies of Poetry Treasures to be given away. (Winners will be randomly selected following the end of the tour.)

Poetry Treasures image by Teagan
Poetry Treasures image by Teagan

Book Blurb

A collection of poetry from the poet/author guests of Robbie Cheadle on the “Treasuring Poetry” blog series on Writing to be Read in 2020. Open the book and discover the poetry treasures of Sue Vincent, Geoff Le Pard, Frank Prem, Victoria (Tori) Zigler, Colleen M. Chesebro, K. Morris, Annette Rochelle Aben, Jude Kitya Itakali, and Roberta Eaton Cheadle.

PLEASE NOTE. I take no credit for the rest of this post. I did not write or edit the content. All praise goes either to Frank or Robbie.

Meet Frank Prem

Frank Prem, Poetry Treasures
Frank Prem, Poetry Treasures

What’s behind Reading Modern Poets?

This piece was written at a time of great frustration with my writing. On the one hand, I had just recently started to find my poetic ‘voice’ – the style and approach that was to remain with me to this day. A wonderful moment.

 On the other hand, though, I was wracked with self doubt and constantly comparing my work with that of others – looking for faults and flaws, and forever being told that I should ‘read modern poets’ because that was the only way for a poet to truly develop.

And I did read them. At least, I made the attempt to read them. And I loathed them. As the poem declares: I really don’t care for poetry, much.

Also, I now believe I was afraid of them. Afraid that I would find their work so strong, and so powerful that my own efforts would be blown away as chaff in a breeze.

That I would find myself lacking.

The end always resulted in my self wondering who the person was, what made them seem so ‘great’ in poetry circles. Why the incomprehensible, inaccessible gibberish I encountered was considered so much above and beyond the merely mortal realms. A very defensive posture, protecting the budding writer in me from death by self-mortification, or unintentional imitation.

I found one writer who delighted me, for a time, and he was definitely a ‘modern poet’. Charles Bukowski. Him I could tolerate, celebrate, and enjoy.

The point of my poem ‘Reading Modern Poets’ is that statements advocating learning from some identified group of Masters are easy to make, but are rarely much more than platitudes. What is of interest about Masters isn’t what they wrote, but how they wrote, why they wrote, and what turned scribble into stanza, mundane into magnificent. The last thing a budding poet needs is to be overcome by work whose brilliance flashed across the sky long before.

Just before I wrote this poem – many years ago, now – I found roses had been left on my doorstep, sometime during the previous night. I did not know from whom, and I did not know just when they had been left there for me to find.

That, for me, became a place to find modern poetry.

***

Front Cover only Poetry Treasures
Poetry Treasures cover

Frank Prem Author Bio

Frank Prem has been a storytelling poet since his teenage years. He has been a psychiatric nurse through all of his professional career, which now exceeds forty years.

He has been published in magazines, online zines and anthologies in Australia, and in a number of other countries, and has both performed and recorded his work as spoken word.

He lives with his wife in the beautiful township of Beechworth in North East Victoria, Australia.

Frank blogs at Frank Prem Poetry which you can find here: https://frankprem.com/

Frank Prem’s Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Frank-Prem/e/B07L61HNZ4

Frank Prem’s Goodreads Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18679262

Poetry Treasures Purchase Links

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Poetry-Treasures-Sue-Vincent-ebook/dp/B0933KSJR9

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Poetry-Treasures-Sue-Vincent/dp/B093QLNGC5

Here’s wishing Robbie and Frank huge success.  Hugs on the wing!

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No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

All images are either the property of the author or provided by free sources, unless stated otherwise.

 

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69 thoughts on “Poetry Treasures, Anthology from Roberta Eaton Cheadle & Kaye Lynne Booth”

  1. Pingback: And The Winner Is…. | Writing to be Read
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  4. Pingback: Day #4 of the WordCrafter “Poetry Treasures” Book Blog Tour | Writing to be Read

  5. I’m a bit of a late arrival to this tour stop, but I want to thank you, Teagan for hosting and supporting this tour. Your review is greatly appreciated, too. 😉

    Frank, this is a wonderful post offering insight. Proud to have you as a contributor to both the tour and the anthology. Thanks for your support of the tour.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  8. Wow! You are the Cat’s Pyjamas, Teagan!
    This is a fab post, and I will visit a few. Will I visit all? I don’t know. It’s a time thing, and time will tell.
    BTW, I loved Robbie’s Youtube post on DOW4…. I think it was 4? Anyway, l adore listening to her. She did good by both of you!

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply

  11. This anthology sounds wonderful, Teagan, and thanks for sharing with us. I appreciated Frank’s words as feeling self-doubt and comparing to other writers can be done so effortlessly. I look forward to reading this book. 💞

    Liked by 7 people

    Reply

  15. I’ve come across Frank’s work in other blogs as well, and it was interesting to read his opinion on the effect it might have on poets (and writers of any genre) to be told to learn from the recognized masters. Thanks for sharing and good luck to all the authors participating and to Robbie and Kaye Lynne with this anthology.

    Liked by 7 people

    Reply
  17. Pingback: Poetry Treasures Blog Tour – an article and a reading. | Frank Prem Poetry

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